Gun Rights Groups See Small Victories, Large Setbacks in 2017

2017 was a somewhat slow year when it came to Second Amendment issues, and while the year handed some victories to pro-gun groups, it also handed them several losses, with roadblocks all the way from Tallahassee to Washington, D.C.

Pro-gun groups didn’t make much headway in passing pro-gun legislation, nor did they taste victory in the legal system, but the groups didn’t back down and have vowed to press forward to expand Second Amendment rights despite the setbacks seen this year.

The Wrath of South Florida Republicans: Anitere Flores Edition2016 was a notable year for gun legislation in Tallahassee primarily as a result of the influence of Miami Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, who single-handedly killed off the National Rifle Association’s top legislative priorities (campus carry and open carry) when he refused to hear them in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Flores, a key vote on the Judiciary Committee, vowed she wouldn’t support Steube’s 10 other bills, which means they would have had virtually no chance of making it onto the Senate floor.

“Throughout my personal, professional, and legislative career I have expressed concerns with the reduction of traditional gun-free zones,” Flores said. “This is not something new nor should it be a surprise to those who follow the legislative process.”

The National Rifle Association was furious over Flores’ action, vowing they wouldn’t be quick to forget Flores’ axing of the bills.

The new law gives defendants more protection from prosecution in “Stand Your Ground” cases by requiring prosecutors to prove whether a defendant is entitled to immunity at a pretrial hearing in order to disprove a claim of self-defense immunity.

The legislation flipped the responsibility onto the prosecutor to prove why a defendant shouldn’t be allowed to use the Stand Your Ground defense in court.

For years, Republicans tried to pass the measure but didn’t have much success until this year’s regular legislative session, when lawmakers finally passed the shift along party lines.

The proposal came on the heels of a Florida Supreme Court decision in 2016 which ruled defendants would be responsible for the burden of proof showing they shouldn’t be prosecuted in “Stand Your Ground” cases.

The measure had a relatively easy time making its way through the Senate, but it did not fare as well in the House, where it stalled out in the House Justice Committee, flopping due to a 6-6 vote.

This year state reps pushed the bill through the Legislature once and for all. Rep. bobby Payne, R-Palatka spearheaded the bill in the House while Bradley once again sponsored the Senate version of the bill.

In July, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Milton Hirsch said Florida lawmakers overstepped their boundaries in shifting the burden of proof in "Stand Your Ground" cases, contending the responsibility to shift the burden of proof actually rests with the Florida Supreme Court rather than state legislators.

“As a matter of constitutional separation of powers, that procedure cannot be legislatively modified,” Hirsch wrote in a 14-page order.

“This is a whole new level of judicial activism,” Hammer told SSN. “Judge Hirsch made a unilateral decision to attack the constitutional authority of the Legislature to pass laws even though neither of the attorneys in the case asked him to rule on such an issue...this is just an activist judge who disagreed with the law so he decided to create issues that were not raised by either party.”

A spokesperson for Attorney General Pam Bondi said Bondi’s office would appeal Hirsch’s decision and the NRA is expected to follow suit.

U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Florida's Open Carry Appeal

The nation’s highest court didn’t give gun rights advocates a win in November when it refused to hear the appeal in the Dale Norman vs. Florida case following a lengthy legal battle which has weaved its way to Washington after several years.

In July, Florida Carry Inc. filed an appeal in the U.S. Supreme Court in the Dale Norman vs. Florida case, which revolved around how Florida regulates concealed weapons permit holders and the accidental brandishing of firearms.

It all started in 2012 when Dale Norman was found guilty of a second-degree misdemeanor after his firearm accidentally became exposed outside of his house. Norman was walking down the street in Fort Pierce carrying his handgun, which was not covered by his clothing. When a passerby saw the gun, the police were called and Norman was arrested.

A lower court found Norman guilty of violating the state’s open carry ban, even though Norman had a concealed weapons permit for his handgun.

The court slapped Norman with a $300 fine and court costs, but the legal challenges didn’t end there.

Norman alleged state lawmakers were wrong in banning open carry because it requires people looking to defend themselves to first get a concealed weapons permit if they ever want to protect themselves while outside the four walls of their homes.

The state, on the other hand, believed that if open carry were to be legal, legislators would have already passed a bill allowing it.

The Norman case weaved its way through the court system until it was ultimately heard by the Florida Supreme Court last year, which backed the state in the appeal -- an action which caused Florida Carry and Norman to take the case all the way to the nation’s highest court, alleging Florida erred in its 30-year open carry ban.

A federal judge who denied the appeal had no further comment on the ruling.

Florida Carry said the ban on open carry goes against the spirit of America, which typically tends to support the right to bear arms.

“Traditionally this Court and the State courts have viewed the right to bear arms as categorically protecting the carrying of firearms openly,” the group wrote. “Florida and the other four States that generally ban open carry are outliers in conflict with American traditions.”

Gun Bills Silenced -- Once Again -- For 2018?The Miami Republican delegation once again struck again -- this time early on -- for the 2018 legislative session when Sen. Rene Garcia, R-Hialeah, said in a committee meeting earlier this month that he wouldn’t support pro-gun measures that didn’t address mental health issues.

The Senate Judiciary Committee considered three proposals in Tallahassee at the beginning of the month to expand either the presence of guns or the rights of gun owners in the Sunshine State.

One of the bills, SB 274, sponsored by Sen. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, would have allowed concealed carry permit holders to bring their firearms to church for protection. Two of the other bills, sponsored by Sen. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, would have allowed gun owners to bring and check their firearms to courthouses in Florida and would have allowed for the inadvertent display of firearms.

All three measures failed in the committee, which narrowly rejected the proposals with the votes of Garcia and Flores, who sent pro-gun legislation to the boneyard earlier this year.

Steuebe, perhaps sensing a dead-end road, said he wouldn’t be pursuing more controversial gun measures like campus carry and airport carry, as a result.

“You saw what happened here,” Steube said at the meeting.

“We don’t view this bill as a gun bill,” said National Rifle Association lobbyist and former president Marion Hammer. “This is a private property right and it restores private property rights to churches, synagogues and other religious institutions and private schools. The keyword is private.”

Hammer went on to say she was glad members had voted on the measures -- since the NRA could go after lawmakers who they believed weren’t fully supporting Second Amendment rights.

Comments

2nd Amendment ..will see Great Victories of 2018.....Election time is around the Corner & there MORE new residents into Florida now that are 2nd Amendment NRA voters....So beware anti-gun rights activists ..WE the People will see NEW State & DC legislatures in 2018....

Miami (and Dade Counties) are largely represented by the Democratic party. This is purely Historical fact based on the political ties of its residents. This simply means that the "will of the people" in these Florida Counties is anti-Amendment 2 in its short and very clear "shall not be infringed" interpretations. I am not allowed to "name" these residents or tie them in any way to any particular Belief System. It will take a very strong stance by the more Northern Counties of Florida, with a more "open" representation in Tallahassee of people in support of our National Constitution. Not without blame, the Judiciary of Florida has overstepped its Legal Boundaries by disagreement on occasion with VALID LAW made by the LEGISLATURE. Take heart, fellow Floridians, as 2018 Elections may portend a more "by the Law" approach to a lasting solution.

It's time to sue the legislature for violating our 2nd amendment rights! The Constitution clearly states Shall Not Be Infringed. That is all they due! Under the 10th amendment all gun laws violate the Constitution!